Foot-washer

  16th Sunday in Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071926.cfm  In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus tell a parable about slaves working the fields of a slave master.  We may be surprised to find him casually using slavery in a teaching story, but it would not have been shocking to a first-century audience. In today’s homily, I will explain what the Bible says about slavery, what it meant to Catholics in the United States in the antebellum period, and apply that example to social injustices that are with us in the world today.  Slavery was ubiquitous in the ancient Mediterranean, including among the Jews who lived in Israel. The Jews had been enslaved in Egypt, and their liberation by God and exodus from bondage is the high point of their national and religious story.  Despite this, when they settled in Israel, they began to enslave foreigners themselves.    I wonder, as we reflect on Jesus’ parable, whether we might think of slavery...

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062826.cfm Today, I am going to preach about an incredible religious experience that Kate and I had while visiting Peru ten years ago.  I am going to start by speaking about the Peruvian custom of mummifying the dead that was practiced during the Incan Empire before the Spanish conquistadors arrived.  I will then apply those customs to Christian beliefs about the resurrection, okay? Got that: Peru, mummies, resurrection.  Here we go. Most of us learned about mummies when we studied ancient Egypt as kids.   You can go to the Louisville Science Center and see a couple of examples on display here in town.  But the Egyptians are only the most famous of dozens of cultures that mummified their dead.   In the days of the Inca Empire (the 1400s) in what is now Peru, the Incan emperors were believed to be descendants of the sun god Inti.  When they died, the emperors were taken up t...

5th Sunday in Easter https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050326.cfm I had never seen or met a Catholic permanent deacon before I was 27 years old. My first encounter was in Oklahoma City. I had moved to that city for two years to take a teaching position. Within walking distance of my house was a predominantly Black Catholic church called Corpus Christi, which became my parish. I had not been to a Black Catholic Church before, and I was quickly stuck by the sense of community, the incredible music, and the powerful preaching. Corpus Christi had two Black deacons who had a real gift for homiletics. I privately thought of them as the crying deacon and the professor. The first deacon would preach moving homilies that, without fail, had a moment when his voice would crack and, caught up by the emotion of his testimony, he would breaking down in tears, bring the congregation along with him. The second deacon was a dentist and a professor at Oklahoma University. His homilies were as...

Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041426.cfm  Good morning, St. X, and Happy Easter Season. What are your favorite sounds as you go about your day here at Saint Xavier High School?  I’ll ask that question again [repeat]. I bet you have never given that much thought.  We often tune out familiar noises as we go about life.  I want to share with you my four favorite sounds. First, when I come into the Driscoll building in the morning and pass the auditorium, I usually hear a wild and raucous noise drifting up from the weight room at the bottom of the steps.  There’s the metallic clang of iron plates hitting each other, the crash of heavy bars, hype-up music blaring, and above it all the primal sound of guys driving each other on.  This is what brotherhood sounds like. Second, when I walk down the first floor of the T during the school day, I’m bound to hear a single word—IF!—from our teacher of the year, Coach John Jef...

Easter Sunday https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040526.cfm Good morning and Happy Easter. The whole world, it seems, celebrates Christmas, even non-Christians and atheists. In the lead-up to December 25th, Christmas songs, decorations, trees, and Santa Claus are inescapable.  And the whole world stops for Christmas.  In our country, schools and many workplaces offer extended breaks for the holiday season, and there is a strong cultural expectation to be home for Christmas with family and loved ones. Easter, on the other hand, is easy to miss.  A few weeks ago, Kroger put out chocolate bunnies, egg-dyeing kits, Peeps, and jelly beans.  That may have led shoppers to ask themselves, “When is that coming up again?” The calendar certainly doesn’t help: Easter can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25—a 35-day period.  Jesus’ resurrection happened during the Jewish celebration of Passover, and the Church has always kept Easter during the same period.  ...

Good Friday https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040326.cfm “May the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Sorrows of Our Mother Mary be always in our Hearts.” You may be familiar with those words. They are the motto of the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ. This is the order of priests, brothers, and nuns that was founded by Paul Francis Danei, called St. Paul of the Cross in Italy in 1720. The Passionists are, of course, the order that has staffed our parish since 1885. In this brief homily, I want to connect two of the friezes behind me to the Passionist charism and to our Passion reading. If you look at the frieze directly behind me, you will see an image of St. Paul of the Cross’ life. Paul was a mystic who had occasional visions. In this one, he was praying at his kneeler (depicted in the foreground) when he was transported in prayer to the cross. He had the experience of Jesus reaching down with one arm and embracing him. I want you to notice one detail ...

Feast of St. Agnes https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/0121-memorial-agnes.cfm As you drive around town, you may have noticed giant banners hanging on the side of buildings that honor local celebrities.  These 60-foot-tall, vinyl banners are called “Hometown Heroes.” They have honored Muhammad Ali, Colonel Sanders, Jennifer Lawrence, Jack Harlow, Hunter S. Thompson, and 26 others over the last 24 years.  The banners have a big, black and white photo of the person with the caption, “Muhammad’s Louisville,” or whatever the first name of the honoree is.  The three criteria for inclusion in the program are that, 1. The person is from Louisville or is closely associated with the city. 2. The person has achieved something positive and noteworthy …. that is recognized far beyond the city's limits. 3. The person has given back to the city of Louisville. The banners cost $15,000 or as much as $90,000 to create and place. A fourth, unwritten criterion is that a group of sponsor...

St. Agnes Catholic Church  December 27/28, 2025 Feast of the Holy Family https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122825.cfm  Happy 3rd / 4th Day of Christmas, and happy Feast of the Holy Family.     Despite our lovely Christmas carols and our beautiful nativity scenes, the little town of Bethlehem would not sleep in heavenly peace for long.  We sing together with the angels, “peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!"  But the reality is that the powers of the world recognized Jesus, not as Lord at his birth, but as a threat to their rule.   From his hilltop fortress three miles from Bethlehem, King Herod looked down on royal David’s city and did not plan to come and adore Jesus.  Instead, the old dictator, who was in his mid-seventies and was wracked with illness, became increasingly desperate to cling to power.  He hatched a plan to massacre every boy two years old and younger in Bethlehem and its vicinity.  ...

Bellarmine University Our Lady of the Woods December 24, 2025 Christmas Eve Vigil Mass Readings “I just don't understand Christmas.... I like getting presents and sending Christmas cards and decorating trees and all that, but I'm still not happy. I always end up feeling depressed.” So says Charlie Brown in the 1965 cartoon, A Charlie Brown Christmas. My nine-year-old son, EJ, has been obsessed with Peanuts lately, and I have seen this short little special multiple times during Advent. Charlie’s friend Linus responds to his complaint, saying, "Charlie Brown, you're the only person I know who can take a wonderful season like Christmas and turn it into a problem.” I think this show has lasting appeal because we can all relate, at various moments, to Charlie Brown’s morose feelings about Christmas. Though we are supposed to feel merry and bright, sometimes the garishness of the season and the relentlessness of it all can make us feel that our hearts are two sizes too sma...

St. Agnes Catholic Church  October 25/26, 2025 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102625.cfm The “Merchant of Death is Dead.”  That was the newspaper headline in 1888 announcing the passing of the Swedish chemist and industrialist who invented dynamite and made a fortune in selling military arms.  There was only one problem, the man, Alfred Nobel from Stockholm, was not actually dead.  As you might imagine, Nobel was quite surprised to read his own obituary in the newspaper and he was absolutely appalled to be described as a “merchant of death.”  That was not how he wanted to be remembered after he died.    This mistake provided a jolt to him, and he responded by founding and funding the now world-famous Nobel Prizes that recognize contributions in science, literature, and especially peace.  When we think about Nobel, it is worth asking ourselves, “if I died to today, what would my obituary say?”  Would it say...

Green Mass (Care for Creation) Wis 13:1-9 ; Psalm 104; Matthew 6:24-34 Seeing Christ in Creation Nine years ago, I led a group of Bellarmine University students on a study abroad trip to Peru. One night, we took a bus ride that wound through the Andes Mountains. The driver made an unscheduled stop in the middle of nowhere and let us all off to into a field. There was no moon that night. The inky darkness was broken only by the light of the stars. We gazed upon them and were unexpectedly disoriented. Instead of the familiar constellations that had accompanied us our whole lives in the northern hemisphere, there was an alien, antipodal sky with a strange configuration of unknown stars. Floating on the horizon just above the mountain peaks appeared the constellation known as the Crux, or the Southern Cross, composed of four of the brightest stars in the sky that form a distinct cross-shape.     Long before being introduced to Christianity, Peruvians held the cross as sacred...

St. Agnes Catholic Church September 21, 2025 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Short form of the Gospel) In the classic musical Fiddler on the Roof, the main character, a poor milkman named Tevye has a disagreement with his future son-in-law, Perchik.  Perchik, who is a Marxist, exclaims, “Money is the world’s curse!” To which Tevye replies, “Money a curse? Might I be afflicted and never recover."  Later in the musical, Tevye sings the song, “If I Were a Rich Man” in which he fantasizes about how different his life would be if he were wealthy.  Most of us have indulged in this same fantasy, playing the parlor game of “what would I do if won the lottery?”  Whether rich or poor, most people think their lives would be better with more money.  We do not live in a poor Ukrainian village of Jews in 1905, in constant danger of a pogrom, like the characters of Fiddler.  No, we live in the richest country in the world.  In fact, the United States is the richest c...

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time St. Agnes Catholic Church https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/083125.cfm Sixty-one years ago, a 22-year-old fast-talking Louisvillian shocked the sporting world.  The young man then called Cassius Clay defeated the reigning world boxing champion Sony Liston in what was then considered a major upset.  After the bout, he gave a famous interview in which he proclaimed, "I am the greatest! I shook up the world. I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived."   The man who later became known as Muhammad Ali would go on to back up his boasts, winning the heavy weight championship a record-breaking three times and being proclaimed by many the greatest sportsman of the 20th century.  Since that era, we have seen a parade of other athletes who are proclaimed to be the “Goat” of their sport.  Goat – meaning the “greatest of all time.”  Michael Phelps is the Goat of swimming.  Tom Brady is the Goat of football.  Simone Biles is...